Indonesia’s secular central government granted Aceh the right to implement Islamic Shariah law in 2006 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist war. A religious police and court system have been established and the new law is a significant strengthening of Shariah in the region.

People convicted of gambling and consuming alcohol already face caning, as do women who wear tight clothes and people who skip Friday Muslim prayers.

So I am wondering: since we are told that anyone who has concerns about Islam is an Islamophobe, do you think those homosexuals who are getting caned in Indonesia are also Islamophobes? If they realized that their bias against Islam was causing their discomfort, do you think they could view their caning as a more pleasurable experience, like these people?

And what about the Muslims who are doing the caning? Aren’t they also suffering from homophobia? Do you think gays and Muslims could band together to form a support group to fight all forms of homophobia and Islamophobia – and, where there is overlap, Islamic homophobia? Perhaps this support group could be led by gay, lesbian, and gender-fluid imams. Perhaps Muslims could be convinced to teach children in madrassas that two-daddy households are A-OK, and sometimes a daddy has a big beard, and sometimes daddy dresses in a burka, and that’s OK, too. And perhaps gays can learn that a little spanking and whipping is part of what it means to be a gay Muslim, and they should view it less like a punishment and more like a lifestyle choice in San Francisco’s Castro district.

How do you think these two groups coming together would play out?

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.